CEDRIC Coutts regrets not eating better and exercising more - a lifestyle choice that has, unfortunately, left him without his left leg.
The 61-year-old Westcourt resident was diagnosed with Type II diabetes about 25 years ago.
Symptoms he has experienced over the years have included heart attack, kidney failure, and two cataract extractions. His ongoing battle with diabetes resulted in the amputation of his limb in December.
Mr Coutts believed he had been too complacent about living with the disease. "I should have stuck to my regime of healthy foods and plenty of exercise," he said.
Diabetes in the Far North’s indigenous population is about 30 per cent higher than in the rest of Australia, Queensland Health says.
Cairns Base Hospital director of diabetes and endocrinology Ashim Sinha said worryingly, increased numbers of children aged between 10 and 15 were becoming diagnosed with the disease.
"What we are seeing in the indigenous population is diabetes at a much younger age," Dr Sinha said.
Diabetes Australia Queensland CEO Michelle Trute said the disease needed to be recognised as a community problem. "If we don’t have a healthy community, we don’t have a healthy workforce," Ms Trute said.
